Fred Raby
Volbasser@att.net
Pensacola Blue
Angels
Bass Page
hook.
com
"FISHING WITH FRED"
covering tidal waters and impoundments
COLD FRONTS, HIGH PRESSURE !?
It's that time of year again, just when you think you're going to have a great weekend to load the boat that weather system blows in to ruin your day…what to do?
In a recent tournament on the Tensaw we saw just those conditions. My partner and I discussed our strategy and elected to follow the plan we originally put together the two weeks prior. We knew the fish were still in the grass in the lower end and we had both been catching some solid tournament fish.
We went to my spot first and not a bump. The water was
blowing out with an outgoing tide and a 15-20 North wind.
My partner's spot was only about a mile away so after giving my spot a chance we moved to his. I caught a 1.55# fish on the second cast using a worm. We had noticed fish chasing bait behind the grass line in about 6" of water, so I started slow crawling a worm through the grass. We continued to fish his
spot and boated several short fish. Then we moved into a shallow ditch with the water flowing in. We found a couple of keepers there, so by this time we knew we had fish in the area and with enough patience we should be able to get our limits, but as it ended up we only had six keepers and my first fish was the largest. Rationale had told us everybody was struggling, no such luck. There were several limits, and some good fish too.
After reviewing our day and talking with the tournament winners I was not really unhappy with our decision.
We knew we had fish where we were, we just had not put the right bait in the right spot. The fish that were weighed in were caught on every pattern known to man. The third place angler said he caught his fish in four different spots with four different baits. First place caught his first fish in shallow water on a buzz bait, then played run and gun the rest of the day on points and ledges until he had his limit. Second place had as close to a pattern as possible, they were throwing shad raps in the grass line and managed to put two limits in the boat.
I think the key was to change baits and work the areas you know hold fish, you might get lucky and put that right combination together to get your limit.
It was still better to be on the water than working that day.
Keep your worm wet
Fred Raby
